Hot Springs homicide suspect, victim shared residence

By SCOTT SHINDLEDECKER

Valley Press

A Hot Springs man charged with deliberate homicide in the beating death of another resident in the small town allegedly laughed when describing the crime while he was being driven to the Sanders County Detention Center.

Aaron Eugene McLaughlin, 39, was taken into custody after officers were called to a home on First Avenue South in Hot Springs on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 7. He is accused of beating Raymond R. Wachlin to death.

McLaughlin is currently lodged in the detention center. He was arraigned Oct. 27 and entered a not guilty plea. McLaughlin is being represented by public defender Daniel G. Wood. The prosecutors are Daniel Guzynski and David Buchler, both of the state Attorney General’s office.

McLaughlin’s pretrial hearing is set for Feb. 23, 2021, and his trial for April 26, 2021.

Hot Springs Police Chief Eric Pfleger said Wachlin was struck several times with an object and died of massive brain hemorrhaging due to blunt force trauma.

Court documents indicate neither man had lived in Hot Springs for very long. A man who rented a small home to Wachlin said he had lived there less than one year. Neighbors said McLaughlin had moved in with Wachlin a few months prior to the homicide.

Both were also described as veterans of the military, but it wasn’t clear which branches of service.

A court document describing the events following the incident indicate McLaughlin made statements on in-car video while he was being driven to the detention center in Thompson Falls by Sanders County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brian Josephson.

In one statement, McLaughlin was allegedly heard saying “Then I was like, dude don’t come through my door. Don’t do it. Don’t (profanity) do it. I swear I told you I’d kill you if you come through my door and so he comes through the door and I just (profanity) blacked out...then I’m like...ah (profanity). I kicked him all the way down the hall like karate kicks, like (profanity) Bruce Lee (laughter).”

McLaughlin made the 911 call after the alleged assault and said “My roommate broke through my door and I beat the (profanity) out of him and he’s not...his pulse is real low but...yeah.”

A neighbor told investigators Wachlin was a soft spoken man who was very caring and loving when he wasn’t drinking. She said when he drank, he cried a lot. She believed he suffered from PTSD from his time in the military.

The woman described the relationship between McLaughlin and Wachlin as violent. She said she heard them yelling at each other frequently and on the night before Wachlin’s death.

Montana Department of Justice agent Tommy Teniente spoke to Wachlin’s children, who had traveled to Hot Springs to settle their father’s affairs.

One of Wachlin’s daughters said her father used to have a lot of jewelry but she never saw any of it while going through his possessions.

The daughter also said she saw her father’s wallet, driver’s license and what appeared to be a document giving McLaughlin power of attorney over her father’s affairs. But she also said the signature didn’t appear to be her father’s. The daughter also said she saw a Post-it note in McLaughlin’s room with her dad’s Social Security number, date of birth and what appeared to be a personal identification number.

The Hot Springs Police Department was assisted by the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation and Sanders County Sheriff’s Office.